James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive convicted for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After this, Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty plea—thus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentence—and was sentenced to 99 years of imprisonment.

In a 1999 civil trial, a jury unanimously concluded that Martin Luther King Jr. was the victim of a conspiracy, and that various United States governmental agencies had conspired to murder King and frame Ray. The King family has consistently said that they believe Ray was innocent, though this conclusion has been disputed by the United States Department of Justice.